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Big Show
Wight signed a ten-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation on February 9, 1999, debuting as a villain and a member of Vince McMahon's stable, The Corporation, at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House. During the McMahon versus Steve Austin cage match, Wight tore through the canvas from underneath the ring and attacked Austin. However, Wight cost McMahon the match when he threw Austin into the side of the cage and the cage broke, spilling Austin outside to the floor and granting him the victory. Wight subsequently served as McMahon's bodyguard. Wight performed as "Big Nasty" Paul Wight for several weeks before being renamed "Big Show" Paul Wight. He then gradually dropped his real name, eventually being referred to simply as (The) Big Show. McMahon wanted to ensure that Corporation member The Rock would retain his title at WrestleMania, so he had Wight wrestle Mankind at WrestleMania XV for the right to referee the main event. Wight incapacitated Mankind, but got disqualified in the process, meaning that he could not be referee. Mankind won the right to be the official but was taken to a hospital following the match with Wight (although he eventually returned during the Championship match). After a furious McMahon slapped Wight, he punched McMahon. Wight concluded his feud with Foley in a Boiler Room Brawl before turning into a fan favorite and joining Mankind, Test, and Ken Shamrock in a stable known as The Union who fought against the Corporation, and later against The Corporate Ministry. On the June 7 edition of Raw, Wight faced The Undertaker for the WWF Championship. Undertaker attempted a clothesline from the top turnbuckle however Wight caught him and delivered a chokeslam which sent Undertaker crashing through the ring mat; the referee was forced to stop the match so the Undertaker retained his title. Following the match Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Mideon all ran down to attack Wight and were all subsequently chokeslammed as well. Wight and The Undertaker later formed an unlikely alliance, wrestling against X-Pac and Kane. As a team, Wight and The Undertaker won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice. When The Undertaker was sidelined with injuries, Wight set his sights on the WWF Championship. After Steve Austin was kayfabe run-over at the 1999 Survivor Series, Wight was given his place in the triple threat match for the WWF Championship. In that match, which also featured The Rock, he pinned Triple H to become champion. At the same time, Wight feuded with the Big Boss Man. After it was announced that Wight's father was terminally ill with cancer, the Boss Man had one of his crooked police colleagues kayfabe inform Wight that his father had died, and then mocked Wight's tearful reaction. Several weeks later, when it was announced Wight's father had actually died (in reality, Wight's father had died years before), the Boss Man interrupted the ten bell toll by reciting an offensive poem. Later, Boss Man invaded the funeral and used a chain to couple the coffin to the hearse, towing the coffin away with a grief stricken Wight clinging on to it. At Armageddon, Wight defeated Boss Man to retain his championship, despite interference by Bossman's protégé Prince Albert. On the January 3, 2000 episode of Raw, Triple H defeated Wight for the WWF Championship. Trying to regain the title, Wight participated in the Royal Rumble match and became a villain when he antagonized The Rock. The Rock eliminated him to win the Royal Rumble. Wight was convinced that he had won, and eventually produced a video tape that showed The Rock's feet striking the ground first. He was then given a match with The Rock at No Way Out, with the WrestleMania title shot on the line. Wight defeated The Rock when Shane McMahon interfered, knocking The Rock out with a chair shot. The Rock was desperate to reclaim his title shot, and eventually agreed to a match with Wight on the March 13 episode of Raw - if he won, the WrestleMania title match would become a triple threat match, and if he lost, he would retire from the WWF. Shane McMahon, now actively supporting Wight's bid to become champion, appointed himself as the special guest referee. However, The Rock triumphed when Vince McMahon assaulted Shane and donned the referee shirt, personally making the three count following a Rock Bottom. On the March 20 episode of Raw, Triple H defended the title against The Rock and Wight on the condition that the match would not take place at WrestleMania, pinning Wight. Linda McMahon stated this match would not occur at WrestleMania as Triple H would defend the title there in a fatal four way elimination match, with Mick Foley as the fourth man. Wight was the first man eliminated from the match at WrestleMania 2000 after the other three competitors worked together against him. After WrestleMania, Wight became a fan favorite again by starting a comical gimmick where he began mimicking other wrestlers, lampooning Rikishi as Showkishi, The Berzerker as Shonan the Barbarian, and Val Venis as The Big Showbowski. He defeated Kurt Angle at Backlash dressed like his friend and role model Hulk Hogan, complete with skullcap/wig and yellow tights. Wight began feuding with Shane McMahon after Shane voiced his disapproval of Big Show's antics. At Judgment Day, Shane defeated Wight in a Falls Count Anywhere match following interference from Big Boss Man, Bull Buchanan, Test, and Albert. Wight returned two months later, apparently intending to gain revenge on Shane. Instead, he became a villain again and attacked The Undertaker thus siding with Shane once more, forming a short-lived stable known as "The Conspiracy" with Shane, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Edge and Christian. After The Undertaker threw Wight through a table, he was removed from WWF television for the remainder of the year. Wight was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWF developmental territory, to lose weight and improve his cardiovascular fitness. Wight returned at the 2001 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by The Rock.[28] Angered by his quick elimination, Wight proceeded to chokeslam The Rock through the announcer's table before leaving the arena. He then began competing for the WWF Hardcore Championship, which he lost to Kane in a Triple Threat match which also included Raven at WrestleMania X-Seven. Throughout The Invasion, Wight remained loyal to the WWF, which made him a fan favorite again. He faced Shane McMahon, the on-screen owner of WCW, in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash and was defeated following interference from Test. Wight was also part of the victorious Team WWF at Survivor Series, though he was the first man eliminated. Wight was drafted by Ric Flair (representing the Raw brand) in the 2002 draft. He then immediately became a villain again by turning on Steve Austin in tag team match that included him and Bradshaw. At Judgment Day, Wight and Ric Flair were defeated by Austin in a Handicap match. Wight once again joined the New World Order, but the stable disbanded after Kevin Nash was injured. After the nWo disbanded, Wight achieved little success on Raw after losing matches against Jeff Hardy, Booker T, and the Dudley Boyz. In late 2002, Wight was traded to SmackDown!, immediately challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. Wight became a two-time WWE Champion defeating Lesnar at Survivor Series, after Brock's manager Paul Heyman turned on him. He lost the title to Kurt Angle a month later at Armageddon. At the Royal Rumble, Big Show lost a Royal Rumble Qualifying Match to Lesnar. He then began feuding with The Undertaker, after Wight threw him off the stage kayfabe injuring his neck, leading to Wight and his partner A-Train losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XIX. Wight renewed his feud with Lesnar wrestling him four times for the WWE title (including a Stretcher match at Judgment Day) but was unsuccessful in his attempt to regain the title. On the June 26, 2003 edition of SmackDown! Wight, Shelton Benjamin, and Charlie Haas defeated Mr. America, Brock Lesnar, and Kurt Angle in a six-man tag team match when Show pinned Mr. America. This was Hulk Hogan's last appearance as Mr. America. For several months afterwards, WWE hyped up Big Show as the man who retired Hogan. At No Mercy, Wight defeated Eddie Guerrero for the WWE United States Championship and then formed an alliance with the then WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. Wight abandoned a departing Lesnar immediately before WrestleMania XX. At the pay-per-view, Wight lost the United States Championship to John Cena. On the April 15, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, Wight promised to quit if he failed to defeat Eddie Guerrero that night. He lost to Guerrero, and, believing that Torrie Wilson had laughed at him for losing, upended her car and threatened to throw her off a ledge. Then-General Manager of SmackDown!, Kurt Angle ascended the ledge to try and talk some reason into Wight, but Wight chokeslammed Angle off the ledge, kayfabe concussing him and breaking his leg. After the event, Wight was not seen nor heard from on WWE television for months. In mid-2004, Wight was reinstated by new General Manager Theodore Long, as he interefered during a Lumberjack match between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle. Big Show had a choice to face either Guerrero or Angle at No Mercy, choosing to fight Angle, thus becoming a fan favorite. Wight defeated Angle at the event. In the weeks before the match, Wight claimed to have "lost his dignity" when Angle tranquilized him in the middle of the ring using a dart gun and shaved his head. On April 3, 2005 at WrestleMania 21, Wight faced Sumo Grand Champion Akebono in a worked sumo match; the match was added to the show to attract a strong pay-per-view audience in Japan, where Akebono is considered a sporting legend. In the weeks preceding the match, Wight pushed over a jeep driven to the ring by Luther Reigns to show that he was capable of moving the marginally heavier Akebono. Wight lost to Akebono at WrestleMania. Wight subsequently feuded with Carlito Caribbean Cool and his bodyguard, Matt Morgan. On June 27, Wight was drafted back to Raw in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery; preventing him from participating in a scheduled Six-Man Elimination match for the SmackDown! Championship. He successfully pinned Gene Snitsky in a Tag Team match which turned into a singles match when both men's partners brawled backstage. After squashing his scheduled opponents for several weeks, Wight returned to his rivalry with Snitsky. On August 22, he foiled Snitsky's harassment of backstage interviewer Maria. On August 29, Snitsky hit Wight with the ring bell immediately after Wight had won a match. As a result, Wight and Snitsky were placed in a match at Unforgiven in which Wight defeated Snitsky. On September 26, Wight defeated Snitsky again in a Street Fight. On October 17, Wight defeated Edge and was thus entered in an online opinion poll, with the winner of the poll facing John Cena and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Taboo Tuesday. The poll was won by Shawn Michaels, meaning that the other two options would wrestle for the World Tag Team Championship. Wight teamed with Kane to defeat Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the Tag Team Championship. In the weeks preceding Survivor Series, Wight became involved in the rivalry between the Raw and SmackDown! brands. Big Show and Kane invaded the November 11 episode of SmackDown! and, along with Edge, attacked Batista (inadvertently injuring him in the process). On the November 14 episode of Raw, Wight and Kane defeated SmackDown! wrestlers and reigning WWE Tag Team Champions MNM in an inter-brand, non-title match. On November 21, Wight and Kane "injured" Batista by delivering a double chokeslam onto the windshield of a car. At Survivor Series, Show, Kane, Carlito, Chris Masters, and team captain Shawn Michaels represented Raw in a match with Team SmackDown!: JBL, Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, and Batista. SmackDown! won the match, with Orton being the sole survivor. On the November 29 edition of SmackDown!, Wight wrestled Rey Mysterio in an inter-promotional match, however, Kane interfered, resulting in the match being declared a no-contest. Following the match, Wight and Kane attacked Mysterio until The Undertaker chased them from the ring. Wight and Kane returned to SmackDown! on December 2, defeating Mysterio and JBL after JBL abandoned the match, claiming the referee had poked him in the eye. Following the match, Wight and Kane's attempt to assault Mysterio was once again foiled, this time when Batista ran in to see them off. As a result, on the December 16 edition of SmackDown!, Wight and Kane were booked to face Batista and Mysterio at Armageddon. They won the match, which pitted the Tag Team Champions from each brand against one another. On the December 12 episode of Raw, Wight took part in a qualifying match for a shot at the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution. Wight lost to his opponent, Shawn Michaels, by disqualification after Triple H hit Michaels with a steel chair, intentionally costing Wight the match and the title shot. In retaliation, Wight cost Triple H his qualifying match with Kane later that evening. On the December 26 episode of Raw, during the contract signing for the announced match between Wight and Triple H at New Year's Revolution, Triple H struck Wight in the hand that Wight apparently favors when using the chokeslam with his sledgehammer. The following week, Wight attacked Triple H while wearing an cast on his hand, using the padding provided by the cast to punch a hole in a chair held by Triple H, destroying a monitor from the announcers' table that Triple H intended to throw at him, and chasing Triple H away from the ring. At New Year's Revolution, Triple H defeated Wight after striking him in the head with his sledgehammer. Subsequently, Wight was one of eight participants in the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, the winner of which would receive a shot at the WWE Championship. On the February 13 episode of Raw, Wight faced Triple H in the tournament semi-finals in a match that ended in a double count out. As a result, Wight and Triple H faced Rob Van Dam (the winner of the opposing semi-finals) in a Triple Threat match to determine the winner of the tournament on the February 20 episode of Raw. The match was won by Triple H after he pinned RVD. [57] In the weeks following the tournament, Wight and Kane feuded with Chris Masters and Carlito, leading to a World Tag Team Championship title match being scheduled for WrestleMania 22. Wight and Kane defeated Carlito and Masters, marking Wight's first victory at WrestleMania after suffering six defeats. On the following evening, Wight and Kane lost the World Tag Team Championship to Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey following copious interference from the other members of the Spirit Squad. They faced Spirit Squad members Johnny and Nicky in a rematch one week later, but lost via disqualification after Kane "snapped" and left the ring to attack the other members of the Spirit Squad. The ensuing feud between Kane and Wight culminated in a match at Backlash that ended in a no contest. At WWE vs. ECW Head to Head on June 7, Wight jumped to the returning ECW brand; he removed his Raw shirt to reveal an ECW shirt during a twenty man battle royal including members of the Raw and SmackDown rosters against members of the ECW roster. Wight won the match for ECW by eliminating Randy Orton. Wight then appeared at One Night Stand, attacking Tajiri, Super Crazy, and the Full Blooded Italians after their tag team match. On the July 4 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Wight beat Van Dam to win the ECW World Championship with the assistance of ECW's General Manager Paul Heyman, who declined to make the three-count for Van Dam after Van Dam hit his signature Five Star Frog Splash on the Big Show. Heyman then instructed Big Show to chokeslam Van Dam onto a steel chair, before making the three-count. The fans almost rioted when Wight became the ECW World Champion, throwing drinks and empty cups into the ring, as Heyman and Wight celebrated, making Wight a villain again. The victory made him the first ever professional wrestler to hold the WWE Championship, WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and ECW Championship. He is also the first non ECW Original to hold the ECW title. Over the next several weeks, Wight defeated many other wrestlers from other brands, such as Ric Flair, Kane, and Batista to retain his championship. He lost to the Undertaker, however, at The Great American Bash in the first ever Punjabi Prison match; he was a substitute for The Great Khali, who was removed by SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long and replaced with Wight as punishment for an attack on The Undertaker shortly before the match. He also had a brief feud with Sabu, whom he defeated at SummerSlam. At Cyber Sunday he faced John Cena and King Booker in a Champion of Champions match. The fans voted for King Booker's World Heavyweight Championship to be on the line. Booker won the match following interference from Kevin Federline, who was just beginning a feud with Cena at the time. At Survivor Series, Cena wrestled Big Show in a traditional 10-Man Survivor Series Tag Team Match, with Cena and Bobby Lashley leaving as the sole survivors of the match after Cena pinned Big Show to claim the victory due to a double team with Lashley. Wight then began a feud with Lashley, who left SmackDown! to join the ECW brand to participate in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match at December to Dismember for the ECW Championship. After busting Big Show open by breaking one of the plexiglass pods with his face, Lashley speared and pinned him to claim the ECW Championship. On December 6, 2006 following an unsuccessful rematch, WWE.com announced that Wight was taking time off from the ring to heal injuries he had sustained on ECW. A noticeably slimmer Wight returned to WWE under his last used ring name (The) Big Show, at No Way Out, stating that he had lost 108 pounds, previously weighing at least 500 pounds when he took time off from injuries. Wight then attempted to attack Rey Mysterio after his World Heavyweight Championship match with then champion Edge but got into a physical confrontation with boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. after Mayweather came from the crowd to defend his friend Rey. The confrontation ended with Mayweather breaking Wight's nose with a punching combination.79 Big Show was then assigned to the SmackDown brand.80 In the following weeks, Big Show was portrayed as a villain, yet fan majority continued to support him over his rich, boastful adversary. Their characterizations began shifting to suit this, and at WrestleMania XXIV, Big Show became a fan favorite during their match as Mayweather used various villainous tactics and received a negative reaction from the crowd. Big Show lost via knockout after a shot to the jaw with brass knuckles.81 Shortly after, Big Show entered a feud with The Great Khali, concluding at Backlash, where Big Show defeated Khali pinning him after executing a chokeslam.82At One Night Stand, Wight defeated CM Punk, John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero, and Tommy Dreamer in a Singapore Cane match. During the bout, he received a black eye and deep gash along the eyebrow which required stitches after John Morrison dropkicked the steel steps onto him. The win gave him contention83 to face Kane and Mark Henry at Night of Champions for the ECW Championship, which Henry won by pinfall.84Big Show once again became a villain by siding with Vickie Guerrero in her ongoing feud with The Undertaker by attacking him at Unforgiven, and later interfering in many of Undertaker's matches on SmackDown, most notably against Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, and The Great Khali. He went on to defeat Undertaker by knockout at No Mercy. However, Show lost to him in a fan voted Last Man Standing match at Cyber Sunday and a Casket Match at Survivor Series. Show would then go on to lose a Steel Cage match against The Undertaker on SmackDown, ending the feud. At No Way Out, Show wrestled in the Elimination Chamber for the WWE Championship, but lost being the third person eliminated by Triple H.85 In March, it was revealed by John Cena that the Big Show was having secret relations with Vickie Guerrero. At WrestleMania XXV, Show was involved in a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship featuring champion Edge and John Cena. Once again, he was unsuccessful as Cena won.86 On April 13, Big Show was drafted to the Raw brand as a part of the 2009 WWE Draft. At Backlash, Big Show interfered in a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Cena and Edge, when he threw Cena into a spotlight, thus resulting in Edge winning the title. He continued to feud with John Cena, losing to him at Judgment Day by pinfall and at Extreme Rules by submission, before defeating Cena on the June 22 edition of Raw to end the feud. In the weeks prior to Night of Champions, Big Show constantly attacked U.S. Title holder, Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne among other Superstars. He would go on to develop a feud with Kofi for the U.S. Title and earn himself a spot in the 6-Pack Challenge at Night of Champions. He would however be replaced by Primo after he was revealed to be Chris Jericho's mystery tag team partner earlier in the event. At Night of Champions, Big Show was announced as Chris Jericho's new tag team partner, replacing the injured Edge. The new duo was able to successfully defend the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against The Legacy when Big Show forced Ted DiBiase to submit with a camel clutch. They retained the titles in a match against Cryme Tyme at SummerSlam.After that, the team, referred to collectively as "Jerishow," briefly feuded with the team of Mark Henry and Montel Vontavious Porter, who had become the new number-one contenders for the titles. Jericho and Big Show retained the titles once again against MVP and Henry at Breaking Point. They would then go on to have numerous confrontations with Batista before successfully defending their titles against him and Rey Mysterio at Hell in a Cell. However, on the October 12th edition of Raw, Big Show claimed that he carried the team, which led to a heated verbal confrontation between the two and a match later in the night. Big Show tried to play friendly to Jericho, but not wanting to lose him to Raw, he tried to betray him but failed, and Big Show won as a result of a countout, thus qualifying for Team Raw at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view. However, he would betray the team causing Team SmackDown to be victorious, but Big show then revealed that he only did it because he is the new number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship against Chris Jericho and The Undertaker in Survivor Series.At Survivor Series, Big Show turned on Chris Jericho, with The Undertaker helping him beat him up.The Big Show ended up losing from a submission move held by The Undertaker. Category:WWE